In
Autumn 2008, 12 identical 72ft ocean racing yachts were to sail from the
UK, ready not just to survive those conditions, but to race
through them. Each yacht will be crewed by 17
ordinary men and women led by a professional skipper. Most wanted to be in
the team that won the Princess Royal Trophy but now this seems unlikely
due to financial circumstances of the organising company.

It
was a tough race because they raced ‘the wrong way’ around the world -
against the prevailing winds and currents. Conditions ranging from the
calms and energy-sapping heat of the doldrums to the icebergs, storms and
monumental seas of the southern oceans.

Global
Challenge was more than just a yacht race. It brought together the
business community, a major charity – Save the Children, the media and
tens of thousands of supporters as well as the crews. Over 120
organisations participate in the event through sponsorships and
partnerships. Spectators from around the world visit the ports of call and
track the event on the race website and through coverage in the world's
media. During the race the Global Challenge 2004/05 website had 37.5
million page views.

The
design principles for the 72ft Global Challenge race fleet were carefully
chosen to ensure they are safe, seaworthy and with high performance in a
wide variety of conditions. The yachts, built during 1999/2000, proved
their worth having successfully completed two circumnavigations
of the world (competing in the BT
Global Challenge 2000/01 and the Global Challenge 2004/05) plus numerous
offshore races since then.

They
are optimised for heavy upwind sailing but
perform well in the wide variety of conditions they will face while racing
around the world.

The
yachts undergo an extensive refurbishment programme in preparation for the
Global Challenge 2008/09 during which the yachts return to their
"one-design" status with new masts, sails and rigging. Every
single piece of equipment is checked, serviced or replaced in preparation
for the World's Toughest Yacht Race. In 2004, this refurbishment
cost £3.8m.

White Ocean Racing
are seeking sponsorship for the remaining 2007 season

for
this Open 60
racing yacht and Steve White

The
Global Challenge is a round the world yacht
race run by Challenge Business, the company started by Sir Chay
Blyth in 1989. Held every four years, it takes a fleet of one-design
(or matching) steel yachts, crewed by ordinary men and women who have paid
to take part, round Cape Horn and through the Southern Ocean where winds
can reach 70 knots. The fee for the next race in 2008 was £28,750. It is
unique in that it takes the westabout route around the world against
prevailing winds and currents - often referred to as the ‘wrong way’
route.

The
route of the race covers a distance of some 29,000 nautical
miles (54,000km). It has changed to accommodate different ports of
call, but in 2004/5 started from Portsmouth (UK) and stopped at Buenos
Aires (ARG), Wellington (NZ), Sydney
(AUS), Cape Town (SA), Boston (USA) and La Rochelle (FRA) before returning
again to Portsmouth.

The
event claims the motto “The World’s Toughest Race” and is the
ultimate sailing adventure for amateur sailors.

After
failing to secure a title sponsor, the company went into administration on
9th October 2006 placing the future of the race in doubt.

Background

The
seeds of the race were sown in Sir Chay Blyth’s previous sailing
exploits. In 1970/71 he became the first person to sail alone round the
world westabout in the yacht British Steel. The practicality of
training people who had never sailed before was demonstrated during the
1973/74 Whitbread Race, when Blyth had raced Great Britain II with a crew
from the Parachute Regiment. Subsequently he ran charters for paying crew.

The
design philosophy for the identical yachts used on the Global Challenge
races was forged by Sir Chay Blyth’s longtime associate Andrew Roberts.
It was his idea to start from the largest top-action production winch
available, which would in turn dictate sail area, displacement and size.
He also oversaw the build of the two fleets of steel cutters used in the
four races to date to designs by David Thomas and Thanos Condylis
(Challenge 67) and Rob Humphreys (Challenge 72).

British
Steel Challenge 1992/3

The
first race started from Southampton in September 1992 with 10 identical
67ft boats sailed by a skipper and 13 crew. There were a number of serious
rigging screw failures in the Southern Ocean and British Steel II
was dismasted in mid-Southern Ocean, but managed to motorsail safely to
Hobart under jury rig. She was re-rigged in time to rejoin the race for
the next leg to Cape Town.

The
winner of the first race was John Chittenden and crew in Nuclear
Electric . Chittenden went on to win the 2001 Yachtsman of the Year
Award.

BT
Global Challenge 1996/7

An
expanded fleet of 14 Challenge 67 yachts set out from Southampton in
driving rain and gales. Again rigging problems struck in the Southern
Ocean and Concert was dismasted. Skipper Chris Tibbs and crew made
a jury rig and motorsailed to Wellington, New Zealand. Concert was
re-rigged in time to start leg 3 from Wellington to Sydney and was 2nd on
the Sydney to Cape Town leg. Yacht Pause to Remember, skippered by
Tom O'Connor, suffered a snapped boom half way between Sydney and Cape
Town. There seemed no choice but to fly their trysail until crewmembers
Graham Phelp and Matthew Reeves took on the challenge of trying to repair
it by using a cut out section as a splint. Two days later a shortened boom
emerged from below decks and was successfully attached to the mast. Three
weeks later and having suffered several storms with wind speeds in excess
of 50 knots, Pause to Remember sailed into Cape Town, with boom still
intact.

This
race featured an extra leg to Boston and a crew of disabled men and women
took part on “Time & Tide”, the first to sail round the world.

Mike
Golding dominated, winning five out of six legs in Group 4 with
Andy Hindley winning the remaining leg in Save the Children . Three
skippers had graduated from being crew volunteers four years earlier: Andy
Hindley; Mark Lodge; and Simon Walker.

BT
Global Challenge 2000/1

On
10 September, a new fleet of 72ft steel cutters made their debut in this
race. The winner, Conrad Humphreys and crew on LG Flatron , won
four of the six legs.

Quadstone
collided heavily in a port and starboard incident with Save the
Children in Wellington, NZ, and Quadstone retired from this
leg. Skipper Alex Philips later resigned. Both boats had to be extensively
repaired in New Zealand.

For
the first time the race was scored on points, with equal points for each
leg, though combined elapsed times are shown here for comparison.

Overall
place

Yacht
name

Skipper

Points

Combined
elapsed time

1

LG
Flatron

Conrad
Humphreys

95

171d
13h 33m 49s

2

Compaq

Will
Oxley

86

173d
14h 59m 43s

3

BP

Mark
Denton

78

175d
09h 54m 33s

4

Logica

Jeremy
Troughton

71

175d
20h 46m 04s

5

TeamSpirit

Andy
Dare, John Read

68

176d
22h 34m 43s

6=

Spirit
of Hong Kong

Stephen
Wilkins

62

178d
21h 34m 43s

6=

Quadstone

Alex
Phillips, Richard Chenery

64*

179d
11h 58m 14s

8

Norwich
Union

Neil
Murray

60

180d
07h 58m 14s

9

Isle
of Man

Lin
Parker

56

180d
21h 41m 18s

9

Save
the Children

Nick
Fenton

56*

176d

10

Olympic

Manley
Hopkinson

37*

183d

*
These teams did not finish all legs, a requirement for a position in the
overall standings, but their positions are shown without displacing any
other team

Global
Challenge 2004/5

The
same fleet of 72ft yachts sailed again in the 2004 race, and the winner
was the Australian skipper Andy Forbes and his crew on BG SPIRIT ,
who won three of the seven legs. Once again, although the overall safety
record of the race was very good, medical emergencies did unfold, most
notably onboard yachts 'Imagine It. Done.', 'Stelmar', and 'Save The
Children'. In the case of 'Imagine It. Done.', only an extraordinary
combined effort of several yachts within the fleet, the doctor onboard (Dr
Roche), and the efforts of the Westpac Rescue team saved the life of John
Masters.

Overall
place

Yacht
name

Skipper

Points

Combined
elapsed time

1

BG
Spirit

Andy
Forbes

90

166d
00h 50m 36s

2

Barclays
Adventurer

Stuart
Jackson

76

168d
09h 39m 09s

3

BP
Explorer

David
Melville

74

167d
13h 16m 25s

4

Spirit
of Sark

Duggie
Gillespie

73

166d
19h 15m 25s

5

SAIC
La Jolla

Eero
Lehtinen

71

168d
20h 09m 51s

6

Team
Stelmar

Clive
Cosby

66

184d
15h 04m 11s

7=

Me
To You

James
Allen

63

170d
16h 07m 02s

7=

VAIO

Amedeo
Sorrentino

63

170d
11h 31m 10s

9

Samsung

Matt
Riddell

58

170d
06h 13m 10s

10

Imagine
it. Done

Dee
Caffari

56*

168d
23h 31m 26s

11

Pindar

Loz
Marriott

54

174d
01h 11m 59s

12

Save
the Children

Paul
Kelly

41

176d
03h 37m 23s

*
Retired from leg 2 from Buenos Aires to Wellington (NZ) after a medical
emergency on board.

Specifications
of the Challenge 72 one-design

The
current 12-strong race fleet of Challenge 72-footers was developed from
the Challenge 67s and was specifically designed to be strong, safe and
seaworthy in even the worst conditions and to be self-sufficient for long
periods at sea, with enough fuel and water to take their crews safely to a
distant port. The yachts were also designed to be relatively easy to sail
and handled by crews who are not professional.

Designed
by Rob Humphreys, the identical 72-foot steel ocean racing yachts were
built by Devonport Yachts in the UK by a new method using a unique
flat-pack yacht assembly kit of precision cut laser steel panels.

Ten
of the twelve yachts were built by Devonport, UK, the other two by Kim's
Yacht Company in China.